Muscat: His Highness Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said will preside over the official opening of the FIH Hockey5s World Cup competitions tomorrow (Tuesday). The tournament is hosted by the Sultanate of Oman from 24th – 31st January 2024.

The opening ceremony will be held in the sales centre of the Sustainable City in the Wilayat of Muttrah. It will be attended by several Royal family members, ministers, undersecretaries and the President of the International Hockey Federation Muhammad Tayyab Ikram.

Further, the games will be competed by 32 national teams (16 male teams and 16 female teams). In the male category, the following teams competing are: Oman, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Nigeria, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Kenya, India, Egypt, Switzerland, Jamaica, Malaysia, the USA and Fiji.

Female national teams comprise of the following: the Netherlands, Malaysia, Fiji, Oman, Australia, South Africa, Zambia, Ukraine, India, the USA, Poland, Namibia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Thailand and Uruguay.

The tournament will be held at the new Oman Hockey Stadium in the Wilayat of Al Amerat. The stadium includes two main fields and several training fields, in addition to other facilities.

The stadium’s establishment is done based on specifications of the International Hockey Federation. Moreover, Oman Hockey Stadium includes 5,000 seats during the competitions period. The seats can be removed and reused in other stadiums.